Madonna · Like a Prayer
Like a Prayer
Like a Prayer is in F major at 111.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
112 BPM · Moderatomedian of 222 analyses · 110.9–111.9 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 98%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 222people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 536.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.7dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.762Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.133Essentia's danceability, 0–3
Source: AcousticBrainz, dump of 2022-06-23 (CC0) · MusicBrainz core data, 2026-09-17 (CC0) · how each number is measured. Measured up to 23.06.2022 — AcousticBrainz stopped collecting in 2022, so nothing released after that date is here.
What the numbers say
222 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 222 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 111.8 BPM one beat lasts 536.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 134.2 ms and a dotted eighth 402.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 55.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 223.6. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — the sort of drift a tape machine or a slightly different mastering leaves behind. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 4.7 dB: that is how far the level wanders from its own average, so a small number means a loud, flat master and a large one means a recording that still breathes. Its average loudness is 0.762 on Essentia's 0-to-1 scale, which is not decibels and is not comparable to a streaming service's number.
10 other recordings here are in F major; the ones listed below are the closest in tempo.
Beats per bar are not in this dataset. AcousticBrainz's analysis reports a tempo, a key and a loudness, and no time signature at all, so this page does not print one — a 4/4 here would be a guess dressed as a measurement.
Keys that fit with F major
Each of these differs from F major by at most one accidental, or shares its tonic. That is the whole of what a mixing wheel encodes; here the relations are named instead of numbered.
Delay times at 112 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2146.7 | 0.47 |
| Half note | 2 | 1073.3 | 0.93 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 805 | 1.24 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 536.7 | 1.86 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 357.8 | 2.8 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 402.5 | 2.48 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 268.3 | 3.73 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 178.9 | 5.59 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 201.3 | 4.97 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 134.2 | 7.45 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 89.4 | 11.18 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 67.1 | 14.91 |
Half time 55.9 BPM · double time 223.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (536.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, BabeBarry WhiteF major112BPM
- Sexy BoyAirF major112BPM
- Hump de BumpRed Hot Chili PeppersF major112BPM
- A Spoonful of SugarJulie AndrewsF major112BPM
- In the NightThe WeekndF major112BPM
- Your Heart Is an Empty RoomDeath Cab for CutieF major112BPM
- (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your BootyKC and the Sunshine BandF major112BPM
- Radio Ga GaQueenF major112BPM
- WantedThe CranberriesF major111BPM
- I Will AlwaysThe CranberriesF major112BPM
Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 112 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in F majorAll songs at 112 BPMF major at 110–119 BPMMadonna
MusicBrainz collapses 43 recording ids into this one. Recording id bfbe89a4-5178-4f12-b258-2d8718881094.